Wind researchers kick off the second part of the largest tornado study in history.

Texas Tech wind researchers will take part in phase two of the collaborative nationwide
project exploring the origins, structure and evolution of tornadoes.

The project, Verification of Rotation in Tornadoes EXperiment2 (VORTEX2 or V2), runs from May 1 through June 15 in the central United States. This
spring’s activity is phase two of the largest and most ambitious attempt to study
tornadoes in history and will involve about 100 scientists and 40 research vehicles,
including 10 mobile radars.

Inside the Chase

Keep up with the Texas Tech team on its blog, view photos on Flickr, and follow them on Facebook and Twitter. Also, look for the Texas Tech VORTEX2 team on The Weather Channel beginning May
1.

Texas Tech returns to the field with its two observing platforms. StickNet represents an array of 24 durable tripoded observation stations, individually deployed
in the path of tornado-producing storms to measure the temperature, pressure, humidity
and wind. The second platform includes the two TTUKa mobile Doppler radars that will
make remote measurements of the horizontal and vertical structure of tornado cyclones.

Christopher Weiss, assistant professor of atmospheric science at Texas Tech, will lead a team of 18 faculty, staff and students into the field;
six will be with the TTUKa radars, 12 with StickNet.

Wind as their Guide

“When the project begins, we will travel wherever conditions are most favorable for
tornadoes, anywhere from Texas to South Dakota,” Weiss said. “We will generally have
a feel for regions of interest the day before the event, but will not have a specific
target until the morning of the potential event.”

Scientists will sample the environment of supercell thunderstorms, violent thunderstorms
capable of producing damaging winds, large hail and tornadoes, that form over more
than 900 miles of the central Great Plains. Areas of focus include southern South
Dakota, western Iowa, eastern Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, the Texas panhandle and
western Oklahoma.

The VORTEX2 project is an outstanding opportunity for student researchers to get
hands-on experience in the field, said Tanya Brown, a doctoral candidate in wind
science and engineering. She has been participating in Texas Tech’s severe thunderstorm
research efforts since 2007 and will lead one of four StickNet teams in the 2010
phase.

“Field research at Texas Tech is unique because of the large participation and responsibility
given to the students,” Brown said. “Texas Tech graduate students are more involved
in the data collection, analysis, instrumentation and maintenance than at any other
university.”

For a complete list of participating scientists, and to learn more about the experiment,
visit the V2 site and the official project Web site.

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National Wind Institute

National Wind Institute (NWI) is world-renowned for conducting innovative research in the areas of wind energy,
wind hazard mitigation, wind-induced damage, severe storms and wind-related economics.

NWI is also home to world-class researchers with expertise in numerous academic fields
such as atmospheric science, civil, mechanical and electrical engineering, mathematics
and economics, and NWI was the first in the nation to offer a doctorate in Wind Science
and Engineering, and a Bachelor of Science in Wind Energy.